Saturn Wireless deploys PINpoint, a
emergency communications solution, at
Department of Energy (DOE), maximizing
their BlackBerry Smartphone investment
and complying with the requirement to
have a wireless Business Continuity Plan in
place!

SITUATION

The United States Department of Energy (DOE)
determines the United States’ policies regarding
energy and safety in handling nuclear material.

Its responsibilities include the nation’s nuclear
weapons program, nuclear reactor production for
the United States Navy, energy conservation,
energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal,
and domestic energy production.

CHALLENGE

DOE relied very heavily on Blackberry Smartphones to
keep communications flowing and business
running smoothly. In fact, the BlackBerry device was
their preferred means of communications. DOE had
deployed several hundred BlackBerry devices to their
key executives and mobile staff, and were planning to
add several more as part of their Emergency
Communications initiative.

Hence, they were extremely concerned about wireless
outage and the fact that they didn’t have a backup plan
in the event of a communication blackout or natural
disaster. Additionally, DOE was mandated by the
Obama administration to have a reliable Business
Continuity solution in place.

DOE wanted to utilize the BlackBerry PIN feature as a
backup in the event of a wireless outage. With
hundreds of active BlackBerry users, DOE had a team
dedicated to keep their BlackBerry servers updated
with the BlackBerry PIN info for each user. This was not
an easy task given the large number of BlackBerry users
at DOE, coupled with the fact that users were
frequently switching and upgrading devices. DOE
needed relief from trying to keep up with the flux in
order to have an effective emergency communication
system in place.

SOLUTION

Saturn Wireless chose the PINpoint application
because it gave the DOE BlackBerry users the ability to
communicate using Pin-to-Pin technology even when
their dedicated server was down. By circumventing the
need to go through the DOE Server, the users could still
have a very reliable means of communication even if
their dedicated server was down or the network
experienced an outage.

PINpoint has given our staff and members
a sense that we care about their ability to
communicate. It has given them the safety net
that they didn’t have before

“PINpoint had a huge advantage that other vendors
didn’t offer. It had a way to ensure emergency contact
information was automatically refreshed and pushed
to the BlackBerry devices when changes were made,
without the need for daily management,” says Manika
Sood, Founder & CEO of Saturn Wireless. “I know it
sounds simplistic but having to troubleshoot a solution
that is supposed to work seamlessly in an emergency
situation is something customers don’t want to deal
with. Plain and simple, PINpoint does what it says it can
do,” added Manika.

“Being an out-of-the-box solution, we were able to
install the PINpoint application into DOE’s
infrastructure without increasing workload or cost,”
Says Manika.

After deploying the solution, our Professional
Services team worked with the DOE IT team to ensure
each member went through an hour of training to
understand the application, its features and its
functionality for their day-to-day needs.

DEAL CLINCHER

Ease of use wasn’t the only factor in DOE’s decision.
“The customer was very price-sensitive,” notes Manika.
“PINpoint helped the customer maximize ROI from
their earlier investments into BlackBerry Smartphones.”

BENEFITS

Compliant: With the PINpoint
emergency communications application,
DOE has been able to meet the
government mandate to have a reliable
emergency communications solution in
place for their key personnel.

Effort-free solution: PINpoint was easy to
install and its out-of-the-box functionality
pushes out new and up-to-date contact
information, including PIN numbers, to
users without costing the IT department
time or resources to maintain it. Every
saving meant increased profitability.

Reliable Emergency Communications
for business: DOE BlackBerry users can
reach each other, even when there is a
service outage, by pulling up PIN
information and using PIN-to-PIN
communication, making everyone ,
including the IT team , breathe easy.

Cost savings: DOE no longer needs
to have a dedicated team to manually
update emergency contact lists and push
out changes to users. PINpoint’s feature
for automatic updates means freed-up
resources and reduced direct staff cost for
DOE.

Manika summarizes her company’s experience with
Tenet: “As a premier partner to AT&T and RIM, our
endeavor is to offer the best solutions to customers
so that they can maximize their IT investments. Our
experience with PINpoint is a testimony to how we
added value to the customer’s existing infrastructure to
catapult them to respond to an emergency.”

The Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA) is pleased to announce that Saturn Wireless Consulting LLC has been selected for the 2009 Best of Business Award in the Business Consulting category. read >